Japan ArchivesDecember 5, 2007Aviation buffs only: Japan-Taiwan snapshotsAfter the jump, several more pictures from the recent Tokyo-Okinawa-Taipei flight in a Cirrus SR22. If you're not interested in small airplanes, never mind! (All photos clickable for larger version.) Continue reading "Aviation buffs only: Japan-Taiwan snapshots" » December 2, 2007What was I thinking (Tommy Lee Jones update)It must have been the travel blear of the Beijing-Tokyo flight, but I missed the obvious point about the Tommy Lee Jones "Boss" advertising campaign mentioned earlier. Here we truly have a case of life imitating art. Jones is living out the fictional role portrayed by Bill Murray in every gaijin's favorite movie about Japan, Lost in Translation: I realize that Murray's role was itself art imitating life, based on countless Japanese ad campaigns by foreign celebrities. But Jones's "Boss" presentation does seem to owe something to Murray's "Bob Harris" in the movie. Thanks to Eric Redman for pointing out the connection. I'm sure that he, like me, remembers that Lost had another main character "Charlotte." Of course the homage to a great movie could not have gone that far, but it's interesting to think about. November 27, 2007Japan is a way better place than it used to be
Haven't tried any of 'em yet, though. (For those joining the story late: brewers' cheapskate reluctance to use hops is generally the bane of the dreadful Asian beer industry.) Taster's update after jump: Continue reading "Japan is a way better place than it used to be" » "The" way vs "a" way (Japan v China dept)This is not a scientific comparison, but when i saw one scene I remembered another. This is the recent scene: yesterday afternoon, Naha airport, Okinawa, Japan. Line crew gassing up a Cirrus SR22:
Continue reading ""The" way vs "a" way (Japan v China dept)" » November 26, 2007While I'm at it (flying in Japan dept)What I saw out my window around 11am today, from 8000 feet:
November 25, 2007Tommy Lee Jones, in the role he was born forOn a thousand billboards and a million vending machines across Japan, Suntory "Boss" coffee has a new face: Here's the old Boss, by the way, still honored with his picture on the can: Continue reading "Tommy Lee Jones, in the role he was born for" » November 24, 2007Not so thankful for this at Thanksgiving (Japan Big Brother dept)Flying from Beijing to Tokyo this morning -- generally an invigorating experience! Japan looks startlingly neat and organized even if you're arriving from Switzerland. And when you're coming not from Switzerland but from China.... Anyhow I arrived excited at the prospect of a few days here. Unfortunately Japan's way of ushering in the Thanksgiving holidays has been to institute mandatory fingerprinting and photographing of all foreigners entering the country. Let me put this bluntly: this is an incredibly degrading, offputting, and hostility-generating process. The comment is not anti-Japanese: when the U.S. does this to foreigners, it's wrong and degrading too (as many people, including me, have pointed out over the years). But Japan has just ushered in this procedure, and they deserve to take some heat for it. Continue reading "Not so thankful for this at Thanksgiving (Japan Big Brother dept)" » |
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